TAS Tricks
First of all you wanna download this .wch-file and open it with RAM watch in your emulator. This lets you see a bunch of important values for example velocity and position, which you will use alot while TAS'ing. Click here to download. For the sake of clarity, let < and > denote left and right directional input, respectively. Let _ denote no directional input. One pixel contains 256 subpixels. This number is used within the RAM to achieve more precise positioning. One frame means 1/60th of a second or 1 click on frame advance. Keep in mind every input has a delay of 3 frames before Yoshi responds to it. Movement 'Speed' Yoshi's speed (x-velocity) when running varies between 3 different values. Without slope oscillation these values should be either "736, 752 and 768" or... "744, 760 and 776". These numbers are subpixels per frame. Yoshi's speed cuts off once you travel faster than 3 pixels per frame, which is 768 subpixels. Most of the times you want to see the number 760-767, to achieve the 760 speed when you are at 752 just throw in one < somewhere among the inputs. To maintain your speed while facing backwards use the following input: < > > < This will reduce your speed by 56 for one frame and then add 56 speed two frames later for one frame. If you want to tounge backwards the Y button should be pressed after the last directional input to avoid speed-loss. Running on slopes aren't always a disadvantage, as slopes can reduce your speed so it doesn't multiply by 8. This means speeds above 760 are achieveable by running on slopes for a brief amount of time. Running at an average speed of 767 compared to 760 saves about 1 frame every 100 frames. 'Banned 1/1 Running' The TAS'ers at #yoshi decided to ban this trick for some TAS projects, keeping entertainment value in mind. This trick involves pressing < > every 2 frames after reaching the optimal speed oscillation, varying the speed between 2 numbers rather than 3, going 56 subpixels faster every 2 frames compared to just holding >... Here are the comments regarding this trick in the 100% TAS: "The final restriction we made is on the 1/1 running trick, named after 1/1 swimming in SMW. This trick basically makes Yoshi run slightly faster than normal at the cost of alternating between pressing < and > every frame. The problem with this is that whenever you lick eggs you must release < and > on the dpad or you will lose speed. Only licks that occur for 1 frame are possible without any speed loss. This severely limits the entertainment possibilities, as modern Yoshi’s Island has become all about cool egg shots and juggling things. The constant wobbling may also be irksome for some. Rather than arbitrarily losing time on cool egg shots, we decided to simply ban this trick outright. Note that this also applies to other input sequences that can be repeated constantly to obtain a higher average speed than 767 subpixels per frame (1/1ing is just the prime example). As before, we disallowed this with entertainment in mind, and the frames lost from not using this trick are hardly visible anyway. This is the only time speed was sacrificed for entertainment." 'Acceleration' The optimal acceleration input when Yoshi is at a complete stop, also with jumping arrows is: < > > > > < > > > < > > > < > > > < > > < > ... After the last > continue holding > until Yoshi's speed is at max. The following acceleration method is slightly faster, but will not work if Yoshi is standing on the floor. < > > > > < > > > < > > > < > > > < > > > < > > > < > ... After the last > continue holding > until Yoshi's speed is at max. Coming out of a flutter the optimal acceleration method is the following input: < > > < > > > < > > > < > > > < > ... After the last > continue holding > until Yoshi's speed is at max.